Building block



Feb. 20, 1940. B. LIEBOWITZ V 2,191,217"

BUILDING BLOCK Filed Oct. 23, 1937 INVENTOR BehJclm 1 n Liebowit z. BY

- ATTORNEY 5 duction block casting machines.

Patented Feb. 20, 1940 2,191,217 BUILDING BLOCK Benjamin I l iebowitz, l\lew York, N; Y. Application October 23, 1931, Serial. l}I0.,1"70,541

UNITED STATES PATENT ,OFFlCE 4 Claims.

I This invention relates to a building block, and more particularly to a precast unitary wall block f ofconcrete or the like.

Walls. made of the conventional j cntirely satisfactory in that they do not afiord proper insulation against heat. and cold, and, furthermore, they do not adequately prevent seepage of water or moisture through the Wall.

in It is .well recognized thatit is impractical to apply plaster directly on the inside of the masonry wall made of conventional blocks, as the plaster will show damp spots which tend to ruin it.

One proposal that has heretofore been made 16 to overcome these defects of the conventional I block is to construct a double wall of relatively narrower blocks arranged in parallel relation with an air space therebetween, the blocks of the two walls being tied together by wires or rods bent 20 in substantially Z-shap and laid into the joints at intervals. For example, where an eight inch conventional block might be required to support a given load, a double wall can be used instead consisting of one three inch blocl; and one four 25 inch block spaced apart about two inches. Such double walls, while they improve the heat insu- 40 wall as a unit in the manner of the conventional building block.

Another object is to provide a building block for wall construction which will afford a high degree of heat insulation and will effectively pre- 45 vent transmission or seepage of water or moisture through the wall.

. A furtherobject is to provide a reeni'orced building block of the characterdescribed which can be readily fabricated in existing high pro--.

A still further object is to providea building block of such construction that the reenforcement may be easily and properly located and molded therein.

55 Other objects and advantages of the invention concrete; 5 building blocks, either cored or solid, are not will beapparent to those skilled in the art from e the following description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingjdrawing, in which:

. Figure Lisa perspective View of the block;

Fig. 2is an end iew of the block; i e 5 f Fig. 3 is a top planview of the block. Referring now to the drawing, my improved building block comprises two substantially parallel spaced longitudinal load-carrying members It! and I I, having an air space l2 therebetween. 10,

Preferably, though not necessarily, one of these members is wider thanthe other, and the wider one, which in this instance is represented by the reference character l0, serves as the main loadcarrying. member. The opposed facesof the two members are slightly tapered -to facilitate removal of the block from thecore.

The members l6 and II, which are made of concrete or the like, are joined at their lower portions, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, by integrally cast transverse webs [3 of the same material. These webs may be disposed inwardly from the ends of the block and may be spaced from each other as seen in Fig. 3. It will be observed'that the webs do not extend the full height of the block but only about one-half thereof so that the tops, M of the webs are disposed a substantial distance below'the top or load-bearing surface of the block. The lower faces l5 of the webs may be cut away as shown although this is not essential. f R

In order to avoid any appreciable heat or moisture conduction from one member to the other, the connecting ,webs must have a minimum cross-sectional area; In the particular embodimentof theinvention illustrated in, the drawing, the cross-sectional area of the two webs combined is approximately eight to ten per cent of the face area of the block. While Ihave shown a block having two "connecting webs, it

is to be understood that one or more webs may be used depending upon the size of the block.

Webs of such small size might not alone afford sufiicient strength, and might cause trouble in M casting, handling, and shipping the block. Therefore it is desirable to give the block additional strength by meansuof a metal reenforce ment. To this end I reenforce the block with transversely extending wires or. rods l 6 that traverse the webs at or near their tops M, and which are sosha-ped, as will hereinafter be described, that they :may be properly located and supported in the mold used in casting the block. The reenforcements may consist of two separate transversely extending wires or rods, as shown,

or the wires or rods may be, connected by longitudinally extending portions embedded in the members I0 and H.

WhatI claim is:

l. A precast unitary building block of concrete or. the like, comprising two spaced longitudinal members permanently connected at intervals by integrally cast transverse Webs of relatively small cross-sectional area, the Webs arranged at the lower half of the block thereby providing a clear space between the members at the upper 1 half of the block throughout its-length, reenforoing wires passing through the webs at theirtops and having end portions which lie adjacent to one face of each of the longitudinal members.

2. A precast unitary building block of, :concrete or thelike comprising two spaced longitudinal members permanently corinected'at intervals by integrally cast transverse webs ofrelatively small cross-sectional area, the Webs arranged at the lowerhalf of the block: thereby providing a clearspace between the members at the .upper half i of the blockv throughout its,

length, metal .reenforcements lying within the block having portions that traverse the tops of I the webs, and other portions that lie adjacent to the interior lateral faces of the longitudinal members.

3; A precast unitary building block of concrete or the like comprising apair of substantially parallel longitudinal members permanently connected at spaced'intervals along their lower' portions by integrally cast transverse webs of relatively small cross-sectional area and of lesser height than the longitudinal members, the webs arranged at the lower half of the block thereby providing a clear space between the members at the upper half of the block throughout its length, reenforcing wires incorporated, in the webs and the longitudinal members, said reenforcing wires having portions that pass through the tops of the webs and other portions that lie' within the members closely adjacent their inner face portions and straddling the clear space between them.

4. A precast unitary building block of concrete or the like comprising a pair of parallel spaced members permanently connected by one or more small integrally cast webs and a metal reenforcement, the metal reenforcement being 

